Chapter 27
The rogues began to fight with much more viciousness and ferocity than before.
"They weren't trying to kill us at first," Shrewhunter said in alarm to Starrypaw, "that's why they kept running away from simple attacks!"
Starrypaw remembered how quickly and easily the rogues had killed Spiderleg, and now they would do the same to any of them. With a gasp, Starrypaw realized she didn't know if Shrewhunter knew about his brother's death.
"Shrewhunter, um...about...Spiderleg."
Shrewhunter whirled around to face her, his eyes glazed over with sorrow. "I know, but we can't think about that right now. Don't focus on who's gone, focus on who we can save."
Starrypaw nodded quickly, but suddenly she was thrown to the ground. When she came to a stop, she saw the black and white she-cat from earlier standing over top of her. Starrypaw felt a renewed drive to avenge Spiderleg and protect her Clanmates, so she fought back with much more ferocity as well. Using her back legs, Starrypaw clawed the she-cat's underbelly until she had lifted most of her weight off of Starrypaw.
Shrewhunter fell on the black and white she-cat from behind, scraping his claws down her back. She hissed in anger and whirled around, getting a good scrape above his left eye.
Starrypaw seized her distraction and leapt up, aiming her teeth for the she-cat's throat. With a hard nip, blood spilled into Starrypaw's mouth, and the black and white she-cat fought for only a brief moment before going limp.
Starrypaw stepped back as the she-cat's blood spilled at her paws. The taste of it was still in her mouth, and Starrypaw's eyes widened with horror when she realized what she had done.
"I killed her!" she cried out, collapsing into a crouch.
"You had to," Shrewhunter said, pushing his muzzle into her fur reassuringly. "Starrypaw, it's alright."
Starrypaw jerked away from him. "No! It...it's not alright! She's dead!"
Suddenly, a cat leaped on top of Starrypaw, rolling her away. He thrusted her to the highrock, and she slammed against it painfully.
"So, you're Starrypaw."
Starrypaw looked up to see Viper traipsing towards her carelessly. Right behind him, Shrewhunter jumped out from the fighting angrily.
Viper flicked his tail, knowing what was happening beyond his sight without even looking. "Keep him back. Keep them all back."
A few rogues formed a semi-circle around Viper and Starrypaw, blocking anyone who tried to see inside. Two of the rogues fell onto Shrewhunter, holding him down. One raised a paw to strike him, but Viper whirled around to glare at him.
"Well I didn't say kill him yet! I want him to see me kill this one. It seems he has a good connection with her."
Starrypaw looked down at her blood covered paws, shivering with the thought of the she-cat's moment of death.
"You're all so weak!" Viper spat. "When I killed my first cat, my mother congratulated me! He was my own father! It was an amazing moment! But you cats," he spoke the word as if he had crowfood in his mouth, "who aren't even worthy to be called cats, have a code that keeps you from killing!" He paused before mumbling, "More about the code later, I have that speech saved for Firestar before I kill him."
With an abrupt change of stature and attitude, the rogue leader walked up to Starrypaw, scanning her with a disgusted and amused expression. "Either way, look what this code has done to you!"
Starrypaw stood tall in front of him, attempting to push the murder she'd commited from her mind. Viper unsheathed his claws, and Starrypaw braced herself.
"If you touch her I'll-" Shrewhunter was cut off as a rogue pushed onto his lungs.
"You know, Starrypaw," Viper continued, unmoving. "Hawkfrost hated you. Oh he really hated you. He couldn't stop talking about how much he wanted to kill you."
Starrypaw narrowed her eyes, wondering where Viper was going.
"That whinny little excuse for a warrior!" Viper exclaimed suddenly, glaring at the ground. It didn't seem he was talking to anyone specifically, but when Starrypaw shrank back, his eyes darted back into her direction.
"Everytime he complained about you, I wanted to kill him right then and there, but you know what? I didn't...because I have patience! That patience has paid off! Here I am, about to kill you first, simply so that Hawkfrost can't. Isn't that great? You're a little kittypet whose whole life led to this moment where you're getting killed to prove a point!"
Viper stepped back and stood taller. "Any one of my warriors would consider it an honor to be killed by me to show my power, so maybe you should consider it that way as well. It might make it less...painful." He smirked horribly.
"You won't kill me," Starrypaw said, attempting to hide her shaking voice. "You won't kill anyone else!"
Starrypaw leapt up to attack Viper, but he slammed her into the ground with a single swipe. She heard Shrewhunter cry out as Viper slashed his claws down her side, but she wasn't staying down that easily. Starrypaw rolled over onto her paws, leaping for Viper once more. Viper feinted and then shoved her into the highrock once again.
"I was really hoping for more of a fight," he hissed as Starrypaw collapsed into a heap on the ground. "Oh well. Tell my father I said hello."
As Viper reached up his claws to slash at her throat, he was thrown to the side. Starrypaw lifted her head to see Firestar pinning him to the ground.
"Ah Firestar! You're making my plan go a little differently than I wanted it to, but that's okay." Viper thrusted his paws into Firestar's stomach, causing him to go flying. He landed swiftly on his paws beside Starrypaw.
"Starrypaw," he whispered quickly as Viper slinked towards them, "you and Squirrelpaw go get help from the other Clans. Go as fast as you can."
"But...I don't want to leave you or anyone!" she pleaded. "Please!"
"Go!" he screamed as he rushed at Viper, claws extended. "Go now!"
Squirrelpaw was standing at the edge of the semi-circle, and Starrypaw signaled towards her with her tail as she burst past the sturdy rogues and headed for the gorse tunnel. Miraculously, Starrypaw and Squirrelpaw were able to make it through the tunnel without being stopped since the semi-circle had broken up and every cat was occupied in fighting.
"Squirrelpaw," Starrypaw began, forming a plan, "you go to RiverClan, and I'll go to ShadowClan. After that, we'll both meet up at WindClan, got it?"
Squirrelpaw nodded stiffly before racing off into the direction of RiverClan territory.
"Stop them!" Starrypaw heard Viper scream.
Starrypaw took off running through the pitch black forest, ignoring the sting of her burning cuts. It wasn't long before she heard paws pounding behind her, and she turned her head to see the huge orange tom right on her heels.
As quick as a flash of lightning, another plan formed in Starrypaw's mind. The Swallow Hole was on the way to the Thunderpath. Starrypaw knew it was there, but she was sure the rogue didn't. Veering slightly to the side, Starrypaw ran the path she had run in nightmares and on the night she'd run away in the rain. The rogue was gaining on her, and she lengthened her stride as best as she could.
Finally, Starrypaw could see the gaping black hole up ahead. The rogue was so close to her now, that if Starrypaw ran around it, he would easily follow. Her heart beating faster, Starrypaw realized what she had to do.
StarClan help me! she thought once she reached the edge of the hole.
Time seemed to slow down as Starrypaw launched herself off the edge. The cold air sped by around her, and she soared over the hole. However, as suddenly as time had slowed down, it sped up again, and Starrypaw realized with horror that she had misjudged her jump and was rushing towards the very edge of the other side.
Starrypaw stretched out her forepaws as far as possible, afraid she would fall into the hole after landing. The edge came quickly, and Starrypaw slammed into it. A crack echoed from the upper part of her left foreleg, and pain radiated up and down it, but Starrypaw worked through her pain, using her right leg to pull herself up and using her momentum to roll onto the ground.
When Starrypaw came to a stop, the pain in her leg was much more pronounced, and she yowled out loud.
Suddenly, the rogue landed on the other side of the hole easily, and he stalked towards her sprawled out body with a smirk. Scanning her injured leg up and down, Starrypaw could tell with even a glance that it was broken. The leg was bent at an awkward angle, and the slightest movements sent her grimacing in pain.
Starrypaw quickly concluded she would not be able to fight off the rogue, but she glared up at him as he got closer and closer.
"Looks like your little plan to trip me up didn't work," he growled.
I never thought I would die like this, she thought, her heart beginning to race.
"This mistake will cost you your life. What did you think you would sa-"
The rogue broke off with a shriek, and Starrypaw's eyes widened when the black she-cat that had saved her before burst from the shadows and attached herself to the rogue's back. He flung her off, and she fell dangerously close to the Swallow Hole.
"I knew you would be a bad addition to VenomClan!" the orange tom shouted, stalking up to her. "Fighting against your own side!"
The black she-cat met Starrypaw's eyes with deep blue ones of her own, and Starrypaw gasped.
This cat was familiar.
This cat was her mother.
The orange tom raised his paw to strike Starrypaw's mother, and Starrypaw dragged herself fowards with her good leg, scrambling with her hind legs to attempt to stand.
"No! Don't kill her!" she screamed.
The black she-cat thrusted her hind legs into the orange tom's stomach once he was standing over top of him. The momentum and strength of the kick sent him over her head and falling into the Swallow Hole, but it also rolled Starrypaw's mother over with him, and she disappeared over the edge.
"No!" Starrypaw screamed.
She heaved herself to her three good paws, limping heavily towards the hole. When she reached the edge, she looked down, the fear of seeing her mother's body at the bottom causing her heart to thump out of her chest.
The shape of the orange tom lay at the bottom. He wasn't dead, but Starrypaw could see him struggling in the mud and dirt that had collasped on top of him. When Starrypaw looked even farther, her heart melted in relief.
Clinging there to the edge was her mother.
"Hold on!" Starrypaw yelled, wincing in pain. "I can help you!"
The she-cat shook her head. "No," she said softly. "You're too hurt, and I'm going to fall."
Starrypaw's voice cracked with emotion. "No...no you're not."
"Shh. Calm down my kit. I told you I'd return for you, and I did it." The black she-cat grunted with the effort of hanging on, but her voice was somehow cheerful.
"But...but I've never met you until now! Please don't go yet..." Starrypaw broke off, desperation feeding her strength to stand.
"I am Ebony, your mother," Ebony whispered. "I'm so sorry that I had to leave you, but you were my only kit, and I knew my housefolk would take you away to where I wouldn't know where you were. I have always hoped you were not upset with me for it."
"No, it was my destiny to be part of ThunderClan," Starrypaw replied, finding her voice once more.
Ebony sighed with seeming relief. "I see that now."
The ground crumbled beneath them, and Starrypaw hesitated to step backwards.
"Now go..." Ebony said. "Go and save the Clans...Sky...my precious kit. That may not be your name anymore...but that is what I named you."
"Sky..." Starrypaw whispered her birth name to herself.
"Go, Sky. You...you can save the Clans because that is...y...your destiny. Just know I have always loved you."
The ground collasped all around Starrypaw, and she limped backwards as fast as possible, throwing herself to the side. When the dust had cleared, Starrypaw limped back to the edge.
When she looked down, she saw nothing but piles of dirt.
"No!" Starrypaw wailed her sorrow to the tree tops, lifting her head in her pain. Her heart felt as if it would break in two, and her legs shook beneath her. Starrypaw mourned the cat she had never met before now with more sadness than she had ever felt, crouching by the hole until she had no idea how much time had passed.
"Ebony..." she whispered over and over.
"Sky." Suddenly, a gentle voice touched Starrypaw's ear, and she searched wildly for the speaker.
"Sky. Don't mourn me now. Go and save ThunderClan. Go and save all the Clans."
Starrypaw felt strength and determination flood her veins at the encouragement in her mother's voice. "I will. I will!"
Fighting through her pain and sorrow, Starrypaw limped heavily towards the Thunderpath. Every movement of her limply swinging foreleg sent horrible agony through her body, but she ignored it.
Finally, the acrid smell of the Thunderpath became stronger, and Starrypaw could hear the few monsters roaring by that hunted in the middle of the night. She had no idea how she was going to get across, but she would deal with that problem when it came.
Suddenly, Starrypaw felt very watched. The bushes trembled beside her, and before Starrypaw could pick up the scent of whatever was inside, it leapt out at her.
Starrypaw yowled in horrible pain as her broken leg hit the ground, but when she looked up at who was pinning her down, nearly all of her pain was forgotten.
Hawkfrost.
Alright I'm sorry for another cliffhanger, but it's gotta happen when you're on the last few chapters and the climax. (Seriously after this, there are only two chapters left!)
I hope the moment with Ebony wasn't too cheesy. I wanted it to convey a lot of emotion, but personally I'm not even sure about the way it's presented. It's...hard to explain how I feel about this chapter lol. I will probably talk more about my thoughts and journey in this story in the very end of the book, but for now, stay tuned for chapter 28!
Edit: And I can't believe I didn't think to say until now, but Happy (day before) Thanksgiving! I hope everyone has an amazing time doing whatever plans they have for Thanksgiving this year. If you don't have plans or if you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, then have an amazing day anyway!